Afghanistan

Afghanistan says foreign fighters coming from Iraq

KABUL  – With the reduction of violence in Iraq, foreign militants were now flooding into Afghanistan to join Taliban insurgents battling Afghan and international troops, the Afghan defense minister said Wednesday. There was a 33 percent rise in insurgent attacks in Afghanistan in 2008, according to NATO-led forces. Violence is …

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U.S. to emphasize security goals in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON  – The Obama administration is likely to emphasize security goals in Afghanistan by approving extra troop deployments even before the White House completes its review of Afghan strategy, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The emphasis on military operations reflects a shift in U.S. thinking that places greater priority on …

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U.N. chief in Afghanistan for security talks

KABUL (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was in Afghanistan on Wednesday for talks with President Hamid Karzai and NATO military leaders, the U.N. said. Ban’s unannounced visit comes a day after the U.N. said more than 2,100 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2008, 40 percent more …

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Afghan forces arrest suicide bomb cell, official says

KABUL  – Afghan security forces have arrested a group of Taliban militants they say were behind a series of suicide bomb strikes in the capital, Kabul, including one outside the German embassy, an intelligence official said on Tuesday. The group of 17 men, led by a 23-year-old Pakistani national, had …

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FACTBOX: Afghan supply routes: problems and possibilities

Suspected Islamist militants blew up a bridge in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pass Tuesday, cutting the main route for supplies bound for Western forces in land-locked Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said. The easiest land route for supplies and military equipment into Afghanistan is by ship to the Pakistani port of Karachi, and …

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Bomber in police uniform kills 21 Afghan policemen

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) – Afghan officials say a suicide bomber disguised in a police uniform detonated his explosives inside a police training center in southern Afghanistan today, killing 21 officers and wounding at least 20. The Taliban are claiming responsibility. In a phone call from an undisclosed location, a Taliban …

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Suicide bomber hits foreign forces in Kabul

KABUL (Reuters) – A Taliban suicide car bomber hit a convoy of foreign troops on the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday, wounding two Afghan civilians and slightly injuring a French soldier, officials said. The attack took place on Kabul’s western edge near a bridge where Italian troops and …

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Afghanistan hits back at Western critics over aid

KABUL  – Afghanistan hit back at Western criticism of official corruption on Sunday, saying some 80 percent of international aid was outside government control so donors should be held to account. As U.S. President Barack Obama makes Afghanistan his foreign policy priority, President Hamid Karzai’s government has come under increased …

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Afghan drug crop to fall slightly this year: U.N

KABUL  – Drug cultivation is expected to fall slightly in Afghanistan this year as lower opium prices and higher wheat prices encourage some farmers to switch crops, the United Nations said on Sunday. Afghanistan is locked in a vicious circle where drug production helps fund Taliban militants and increases official …

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Liniştea dinaintea furtunii?

„Există puţine îndoieli că Afganistanul reprezintă în prezent cea mai mare provocare militară pentru noi” (Robert Gates, 27 ianuarie 2009) Dan Dungaciu d.dungaciu@gmail.com   Toată lumea a aşteptat cu înfrigurare semnele pe care America le va trimite lumii după învestirea noului preşedinte. Au început să apară. Nu sunt surprize mari, …

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